IPOH, Oct 2 — The Education Ministry could be wrongly penalising good students by banning the use of SPM forecast results for entrance to pre-university and foundation programmes, according to Gerakan adviser Datuk Chang Ko Youn.

Chang said the government should instead penalise colleges and universities that ignored their acceptance standards based on the forecast results instead of barring the use of the forecasts outright.

“Usually, when a student is accepted by a college based on forecast results, the college will expect the student’s actual SPM results to satisfy its minimum acceptance conditions,” he said yesterday.

“For instance, a college might require the student to achieve five or six credits at least, and if the student fails to do so, he or she must resit the paper.

“However, I was informed that some institutions are ignoring these minimum standards and accepting the students for business reasons.

“I believe this is what angered the ministry — and I can understand why.”

Chang urged the ministry to reconsider its decision, saying it would hurt good students who would ordinarily achieve the required qualifications.

He said that they would be wasting their time while waiting for their official results, exposing them to potentially negative influences.

The controversy over the use of SPM forecast results erupted last week, when it was reported that the ministry had issued a circular five months ago, stating forecast results would not be accepted as admission qualifications for pre-university and foundation programmes in 2015.

Chang said the policy would put poorer students at a disadvantage because their richer counterparts would be able to continue studying overseas — where forecast results are accepted.

He also said this under-fire policy would only cause more consternation among parents after the recent UPSR leak fiasco.

The move caused an outcry among parents and students, and was met by opposition from members of both sides of the political divide. 

Chang’s sentiments were echoed by National Association of Private Education Institutions president Prof M. Elanjsolan, who agreed the ministry’s U-turn would hit students and parents hard. 

He said the policy would delay certain students’ academic progress because they would have to wait nearly six months for the SPM results to be released. 

“Due to tough competition, some parents book their children’s overseas tertiary studies two or three years in advance.”

They gain entry into the foundation programmes for these courses based on their forecast results.

Without the forecasts, the students will be forced to undergo accumulated delays in their studies, which could see them delayed for up to a year.”

However, Elanjsolan refuted Chang’s claim that some colleges were turning a blind eye to the minimum enrolment qualifications for commercial reasons.

“The Malaysian Qualifications Agency audits all the private institutions thoroughly, and it involves a check of each student’s academic files.

“This is to ensure that the students’ qualifications satisfy the minimum standards,” he said.

“In fact, after speaking to members of other private educational institutions associations, only one or two per cent of students are released by the colleges because their SPM results do not match the standards.

“These statistics have remained constant for the last four years.”

Elanjsolan also said most school-prepared examinations were more challenging than the actual SPM examination, as the schools wanted to prepare the students rigorously.

However, he said the ministry should come down hard on any institutions that were not adhering to the minimum academic qualifications for enrolment. 

“The culprits must be found and charged.

“It would be better to punish them instead of punishing so many students who are performing well,” he said.